Twists in ‘Empire’ star tale
Furor over reports he staged attack
The mystery behind the alleged hate attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett deepened Thursday amid reports that Chicago police are probing whether he staged it because he was being written off the show.
Cops raided the home of two Nigerian nationals — extras on the show who are considered “persons of interest” — and took them into custody at O’Hare Airport Wednesday, according to ABC’s Chicago affiliate.
The station and a CBS affiliate both reported that cops suspect Smollett orchestrated the attack and enlisted the men’s help.
But a spokesman for the Chicago PD cast doubt on that narrative.
“Media reports about the ‘Empire’ incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives,” said the spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.
“We have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate,” he wrote, although the reports don’t specify that the sources are law enforcement.
A relative of the Nigerian men told ABC News that several cops banged on the door Wednesday night and said they had a search warrant.
Among the items recovered from the home were bleach, shoes and electronics.
Police also questioned the star himself Thursday after he appeared on “Good Morning America” to give his first detailed account of the alleged incident.
“He did answer routine follow-up questions from the police today and continues to be cooperative,” Smollett’s rep, Pamela Sharp, told The Post.
Both Sharp and the Fox TV network, which airs “Empire,” denied that Smollett was being written off the show.
“The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off ‘Empire’ is patently ridiculous,” Fox said in a statement.
Smollett says he was on the phone with his manager, Brandon Z. Moore, and walking home at 2 a.m. on Jan. 29 when he was accosted by two people who shouted racial and anti-gay slurs, tied a noose around his neck and doused him with a “chemical substance” resembling bleach.
He told “GMA” he handed over heavily redacted call logs 13 days after the attack, on Tuesday, arguing the redactions were to protect “highprofile” friends.
“I have private pictures and videos and numbers — my partner’s number, my family’s numbers,” he said.
The actor opened up about why he did not at first want to report the crime to police.
“There’s a level of pride there,” he said. “We live in a society where, as a gay man, you are considered somehow to be weak, and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.”
The investigation has been stymied by a lack of securitycamera footage — and Smollett’s initial refusal to furnish police with phone records.
While a lack of security footage cast doubt on Smollett’s account, he said there was a camera near where he was attacked, but cops told him it was facing the wrong way.
“How is that my issue?” Smollett said in the interview. “I want that video found so badly.”